Roundball Mining Company » 2013 NBA Summer Leaguehttp://www.roundballminingcompany.com
We'll move the earth for a title!Sun, 29 Mar 2015 06:26:46 +0000en-UShourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=4.1.1Summer League Recap: Denver Nuggets 84 Memphis Grizzlies 91http://www.roundballminingcompany.com/2013/07/20/summer-league-recap-denver-nuggets-84-memphis-grizzlies-91/
http://www.roundballminingcompany.com/2013/07/20/summer-league-recap-denver-nuggets-84-memphis-grizzlies-91/#commentsSat, 20 Jul 2013 10:49:31 +0000http://www.roundballminingcompany.com/?p=6973Of the sixteen players on the Nuggets’ roster at the 2013 NBA Summer League, more than half have not had a chance to play meaningful minutes. A few of those players finally got a chance in Friday’s 91-84 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies, Denver’s fifth game in five days and their finale in Las Vegas. The Nuggets finished with a 1-5 record overall.

Jordan Hamilton did not dress for the game and Evan Fournier played just eight first-quarter minutes. Luke Harangody led the Nuggets in scoring with 17 points off the bench. Nuggets’ coaches delegated a lot of minutes and responsibility to seldom-used reserves — they played 14 guys in total and 11 of them received ten minutes or more.

One reason for the lack of continuity in rotations was the summer league format itself. Many teams had spent the entirety of their previous games trying to build chemistry and cohesion within a particular group, one that would give them the best chance to win and advance in the tournament. I heard from a number of teams and coaches who felt that format was not the most conducive to the real purpose of summer league: evaluating talent and player development.

The Nuggets led by six after the first quarter and stayed close all game, but Memphis pulled away in the fourth behind energetic performances from Vander Blue, Jack Cooley and Matt Howard. Denver was a very perimeter-oriented team throughout summer league and their shooting was up and down throughout the entire event. When they did get in the paint, the Nuggets lacked creative finishers and their young guards were all still learning how to make the right play off the dribble.

All in all, the Nuggets’ summer league has to be considered a success in that it served it’s intended purpose. They were able to showcase current Nuggets Quincy Miller, Evan Fournier, and Jordan Hamilton in larger roles and all of them showed growth in one form or another. The remainder of the roster fought for scraps and many struggled when asked to adapt to a variety of roles and sporadic playing time.

Rookie center Kyle Barone described the summer league experience as “Just a different type of game. It’s quick shots, things like that. You kinda just have to get your own out there.” The mobile big man performed admirably as the lone true center who could score and defend in the post, but Barone told me he didn’t get to showcase his pick-and-pop skills or three-point range. Watching Barone struggle to play his game in a role ill-suited to his strengths was odd, but it was also a valuable experience that likely gave the rookie hopeful a great deal of knowledge about where he needs to improve in order to play at the next level.

“It was a good experience overall, playing with [new teammates] and a bunch of guys who have already been in the NBA. It was a challenging week,” Barone said.

With the 2013 NBA Summer League now in the books for the Denver Nuggets, Roundball Mining Company can move on to evaluating the performances and growth of those who participated. That will be forthcoming, but for now — after a long five days in Vegas, I need a little bit of a break.

]]>http://www.roundballminingcompany.com/2013/07/20/summer-league-recap-denver-nuggets-84-memphis-grizzlies-91/feed/45Summer League Recap: Raptors end Nuggets’ tournament runhttp://www.roundballminingcompany.com/2013/07/18/summer-league-recap-raptors-end-nuggets-tournament-run/
http://www.roundballminingcompany.com/2013/07/18/summer-league-recap-raptors-end-nuggets-tournament-run/#commentsFri, 19 Jul 2013 02:41:54 +0000http://www.roundballminingcompany.com/?p=6968Summer league is an evaluation process more than anything else, and the Nuggets have used the last six days in the desert as an opportunity to see what they have with a young and talented roster. The Toronto Raptors also gave them a look at what they don’t have on Thursday afternoon, defeating the Nuggets 95-78 and knocking them out of tournament behind the strong play of MVP-favorite Jonas Valanciunas.

Valanciunas has not only been the best player at the Las Vegas summer league, he’s blossoming into one of the more physically imposing seven-footers in the league. Denver meanwhile is evaluating a roster built largely around the slashing and perimeter shooting of their young guards and wings. They simply had no answer for the brute strength and post-centric game of Jonas Valanciunas, who put up a solid line of 15 points and 12 boards without much resistance from the undersized Nuggets.

It really didn’t seem there was much the Nuggets could do about the loss. Jordan Hamilton played well and scored 25 points, but shots weren’t falling and the Nuggets got outrebounded to death. The final tally on the boards was a staggering 48-28 in favor of Toronto. While Denver’s players fought hard and battled it seemed they were just met head-on by their own limitations.

Fatigue may have been a factor as well, with the Nuggets playing their fourth game in a row on consecutive nights. After six days of action, tired legs were showing up for nearly every summer league team but rookie Erick Green denied that it was a determining factor in the loss.

“I don’t think we’re wearing down. We’re just not doing the little things. Not getting back on D, not rebounding well. We’re taking too many threes and it’s the little things we’re not doing that are keeping us from winning” said Green.

Green has been really tough on himself in the summer league, probably a little too much considering this wasn’t a loss that can be attributed to poor execution or effort. The Nuggets simply ran out of gas against a huge team with perhaps the best player in the tournament.

The Nuggets aren’t yet finished with summer league, but it’s essentially winding down and the competitive portion is pretty much in the books. Coaches told me they would use Denver’s final game in the consolation round as an opportunity to play different guys who haven’t seen much court time in the first five games.

The Nuggets final game of summer league will be played Friday at 6:30pm MST against Memphis in the Thomas & Mack Arena.

Maybe not, but the intensity on display Wednesday was certainly something different from what we’ve seen in the summer league so far. The Nuggets defeated the New Orleans Pelicans 87-82 in their first “playoff” game in Las Vegas, advancing to the round of 16 in the tournament with their first win in four tries.

The game was marked by physical play and tighter rotations by both coaches. There’s no doubt guys were trying to win and coaches had a little less patience for the evaluation process than they did in the earlier part of summer league.

Jordan Hamilton returned to the team after taking a leave of absence to attend a funeral in Los Angeles. He came out firing on all cylinders, setting the tone early with 18 first quarter points. From then on the Nuggets nursed their lead while fending off Pelicans runs until a competitive fourth quarter in which the Nuggets pulled out the victory behind timely scoring from the sophomore contingent of Quincy Miller and Evan Fournier.

“We wanted to come out really aggressive and set the tone early, and obviously Jordan Hamilton shot the basketball and played with great confidence. He set the tone for us and led by example — we needed that” said Melvin Hunt, who assumed most of the coaching duties for Wednesday’s game.

“We lost three in a row. Our mindset was just to win, regardless of anything else” said starting point guard CJ Harris, who hit all three of his shots and was instrumental in finally getting the Nuggets some offense inside the paint.

When Darius Johnson-Odom was asked what was different about Wednesday’s mindset, he replied “We just wanted to win. It’s the start of a new day with the tournament and we needed a win. We got us one and now we just wanna keep going.”

The other big story of the game was the lights-out perimeter shooting of Quincy Miller. The 6-10 combo forward was on fire, shooting a perfect 5-for-5 from deep and delivering the timeliest makes of the night. The Nuggets looked to Quincy when they needed big fourth quarter buckets and he showed an ability to hit big-time shots under pressure.

Erick Green added 14 points off the bench, shaking off a lot of his earlier struggles and looking much more confident and composed in a secondary scorer’s role.

As a result of the win, Denver moves on to the next round of the tournament where they will face the #6 seed Toronto Raptors on Thursday at 4:00pm MST. It will be the Nuggets fourth game in as many nights. As the Nuggets look to advance in the tournament tomorrow here’s a sampling of Nuggets news and notes from around the gym at summer league.

CJ Harris Q&A

I talked to CJ Harris after his solid performance as the starting point guard, and the rookie told me he’s making the transition to more of a pure point guard role in the NBA. Here’s what we covered in the short Q&A session.

Q: For people that haven’t seen you play before, describe your gameA: I do a little bit of everything. Coming out of college, I was strictly a shooter. That’s probably my biggest strength. But throughout the summer I’ve learned to play the point guard position, find open guys and take shots when I’m open.

Q: Why do you think the offense struggled so much in the first three games?A: Yeah, it was tough getting our chemistry. First time we’ve all been together and it took us a while to gel. We did a great job sharing the ball today and it paid off.

Q: Do you think you could be a 40% three-point shooter in the NBA?A: Absolutely. Yeah, that’s the definite strength of my game. I haven’t gotten too many three-point looks out here yet, but I’m thinking I’ve made all of them so far.

Q: What’s the secret to being efficient shooting the ball? Is it just taking good shots?A: That and being confident. I think confidence is really big in shooting. I definitely have a lot of confidence in my shot.

Q: What have the coaches been stressing in terms of concepts and the system they want?A: Defense and being really agressive. We want to get stops and immediately push. Setting up the plays comes secondary. That’s what they’ve been harping on.

Q: When they do call plays, what do they want you to run?A: It’s a little bit of pick and rolls. We’ve also got Jordan, Evan coming off down screens. We’ve got Q picking and popping, stuff like that. Just utilizing everybody’s strengths.

Melvin Hunt on Quincy Miller’s development

Talking to coach Melvin Hunt after the game, I asked if Quincy’s summer league success as a stretch four meant the Nuggets would look for him to play that role in the NBA. Hunt said the Nuggets are still in an evaluation process in terms of what he can do and that they’ve always viewed him as a guy who will play multiple positions.

“Quincy’s a basketball player, a new-age basketball player” said Hunt. “He’s long, athletic, can play multiple positions and gives us multiple skills. He’s just a new-age basketball player.”

When asked about his development from last summer to this one, coach Hunt said “He’s gotta continue to keep showing us different things. One thing coach Shaw has assessed since he’s been here is that we’re gonna make mistakes, so how about we make new mistakes? We want to see growth and development out of all our guys. With Quincy, we don’t want to see him making the same mistakes he was in the beginning of the tournament and [repeating those] towards the end of the tournament. We want him to make new ones. This is just the summer league.”

]]>http://www.roundballminingcompany.com/2013/07/17/summer-league-recap-nuggets-advance-to-second-round/feed/152Summer League Recap: Wizards annihilate Nuggetshttp://www.roundballminingcompany.com/2013/07/16/summer-league-recap-wizards-annihilate-nuggets/
http://www.roundballminingcompany.com/2013/07/16/summer-league-recap-wizards-annihilate-nuggets/#commentsWed, 17 Jul 2013 05:48:25 +0000http://www.roundballminingcompany.com/?p=6957The preliminary round of summer league concluded on Tuesday night, with the Golden State Warriors clinching a top seed and first-round bye in the upcoming tournament. On the other end of the spectrum were the Denver Nuggets, who went into the evening ranked dead last in the seeding and further cemented themselves there after getting thrashed by the Washington Wizards.

Jan Vesely did most of the damage for the Wizards, scoring 18 points on 11 shots in just 21 minutes. Washington had little trouble establishing a comfortable lead midway through the first quarter and were able to put it on cruise control the rest of the night.

On the Denver side of things, it was a nightmare. There were glimmers of hope throughout the Nuggets’ first two double-digit losses in summer league, but the latest affair only confirmed what the standings already said: the Nuggets can’t get anything going and have been the worst performing club of the preliminary round by far.

With the losses mounting and the offense following the defense into a state of utter disarray, the Nuggets did their best to stay positive and upbeat. Coach Lester Conner delivered a lengthy speech following the game and seemed confident the Nuggets would be able to stick together and shake off the three big losses heading into tournament play.

“We’ve got to show that we can handle pressure” said Conner after another blowout loss. “23 turnovers for 35 points is way too much. We told the guys at the beginning of the game and the end of the game don’t let our offense dictate how our defense plays. And the last few games we’ve been giving teams fifty plus percent [shooting] from the floor.”

Conner spoke in broad terms when asked what was the number one thing Denver needed to work on heading into tournament play. “Execution on both ends of the floor” he said. “We’re not getting any execution on the defensive schemes and we can’t get into any of our offensive sets.”

There are no easy fixes for a team struggling in so many different areas.

Throughout all of the losing, Quincy Miller continues to show glimpses of a promising all-around game and told me he feels confident the team will be able to stick together and play with confidence in the upcoming games. When asked if a lack of experience and the loss of Jordan Hamilton were wearing on the team, Quincy said the Nuggets’ biggest problems were simpler than that.

“We ain’t trying to make no excuses. We should have played better. We gotta play hard, that’s the bottom line. If we play hard it’ll make up for a lot our mistakes.”

Miller and Evan Fournier were the lone Nuggets to score in double figures. Fournier led the team with 12 points on 9 shots and Quincy finished with 11 points and 4 rebounds in 24 minutes.

Tournament Update

The Nuggets are the #22 seed and are schedule to play #11 seeded New Orleans in round one on Wednesday afternoon. The game is scheduled for 3:00pm in the Cox Pavilion.

Quincy enjoys physical battle with Vesely

Coach Lester Conner continued to experiment with playing Quincy Miller at multiple positions. The long and versatile Miller started at the four again but spent more time at the three than he did in the first two contests. Miller was one of the few Nuggets able to get some defensive pressure on Vesely with his length, but Jan had a great game and made some pretty difficult shots.

Quincy displayed some toughness and a mean streak in a physical matchup with Vesely, which he seemed to enjoy. When asked about the chippiness early on, Quincy replied “I think Vesely’s a great player. He’s older than me, but I’m not gonna let you punk me — that’s never gonna happen. We was going at each other and that was pretty fun.”

Inconsistency is the universal given in summer league, and right now the Nuggets look like an inexperienced team facing too much of it from every direction. Progress was on display on the offensive end, where the Nuggets had more success shooting the ball and creating off the dribble, but much of that was negated by their inability to guard the pick and roll or string together more than a couple possessions of mistake-free defense.

Denver’s small army of summer league coaches was active on Tuesday night, getting a lot of one-on-one time with individual players after frequent breakdowns on both ends of the floor. I found myself lamenting how difficult it must be to stay focused while having a gang of grown men yelling at you after every possession, but ultimately that’s what summer league is all about. It’s a format where coaches are going to live with those mistakes and start the process of creating the right kind of habits.

Once again, it was another sloppy game that didn’t tell us much we didn’t already know. Evan Fournier has looked like a bonafide NBA player while everyone else… hasn’t. Luke Harangody’s reckless all-out effort has been fun, but none of Denver’s bigs have looked passable on defense and outside of Evan, none of the guards have managed to stand out yet either.

I got my first chance to speak with players and coaches after the game and here’s a few storylines to keep an eye on heading into the tournament portion of summer league, which starts on Wednesday.

Coach Conner preaches D

Two things became abundantly clear when getting to know newly-appointed assistant head coach Lester Conner: he’s extremely hands-on with players and is most definitely all about defense.

Conner didn’t seem too worried about shot selection or sloppy offense, but he was getting into guys after obvious defensive lapses, of which there many on Monday night. One thing he harped on in particular was the lack of communication guarding the pick and roll.

“They didn’t trust each other on the pick and roll coverage,” Conner said. “We had different coverages with the big guys, the fours and fives, plugging where they were letting [ballhandlers] come against the grain and get all the way to the rim. They weren’t impacting the basketball so that’ll be something we clean up tomorrow.”

Odom and Green forming a bond

DJ Odom has been one of the better point guards on the roster, looking the part of a veteran who plays solid D and knows how to make plays in transition. Another thing the second-year guard can add to his impressive resume: leadership. Rookie Erick Green told me after the game how Odom has been mentoring him and helping him adjust to the higher level of competition.

“I’m trying to learn. DJ has been a good role model for me, taking me under his wing, talking to me” said Green. “The main thing is he wants me to go out there and play my game and he sees that I’m not confident yet. So I have to get that going and get my confidence back.”

Hamilton reflects on Karl

Behind the scenes, Jordan Hamilton has worked harder than just about any Nugget over the past two years. Every coach I’ve talked to praised his work ethic and dedication to improving his body, which was a focus after his rookie season.

After George Karl was fired in June, he defended his track record with young players, claiming that while he did not give them a lot of minutes all of the young guys were getting better. However even Karl singled out Hamilton as the one youngster he perhaps didn’t do a great job with, as Jordan is now heading into his third season still waiting for a meaningful opportunity to prove himself and earn minutes.

After spending his first two seasons seemingly buried in Karl’s doghouse, you might expect Jordan to be frustrated with the relationship. As a matter of fact, Jordan praised Karl for aiding his development and denied any communication issues with the former head coach.

“I know he emphasized me being a young player. He always used to say I’m really supposed to be in my senior year of college, so that’s how I knew he prides himself on being harsh to young guys. But it was a good thing because I’ve learned a lot from coach Karl. He’s taught me some things and I’ve learned how to be patient.”

]]>http://www.roundballminingcompany.com/2013/07/16/summer-league-recap-chicago-bulls-93-denver-nuggets-81/feed/4Denver Nuggets 2013 Summer League Previewhttp://www.roundballminingcompany.com/2013/07/12/denver-nuggets-2013-summer-league-preview/
http://www.roundballminingcompany.com/2013/07/12/denver-nuggets-2013-summer-league-preview/#commentsFri, 12 Jul 2013 14:00:19 +0000http://www.roundballminingcompany.com/?p=6937The Denver Nuggets will kick off summer league action on Saturday night against the Milwaukee Bucks, marking their ninth straight year of summer competition in Las Vegas. Interestingly enough, the Nuggets are the winningest franchise in summer league history with a cumulative 24-15 record since the Las Vegas league’s inception in 2004.

Of course part of the magic of summer league is the inescapable truth that records don’t matter. The NBA may be trying to change that with the introduction of a tournament format this year (more on that later), but by and large summer league exists solely as an evaluation tool and a training ground for rookies, fringe NBA talents, and assistant coaches.

This season, the Nuggets are bringing a guard-heavy 16-man roster to the table, with important opportunities up for grabs among several young players with real chances to not only make the roster, but possibly get in line for actual minutes in the upcoming season. Denver is only bringing in five players with NBA experience, but three of those (Miller, Hamilton, and Fournier) are returning from last year’s team and essentially guaranteed roster spots next season. Add in second round pick Erick Green, who is also a virtual lock to be signed, and that means this squad will feature at least four players who will definitely be on the 2013-2014 roster.

Newly-retained assistant Melvin Hunt will coach the team, which will start out with three exhibition games before beginning seeded tournament play on Wednesday. Each team is guaranteed to play at least five games and as many as eight for the two teams that reach the championship round.

Without further ado, here’s a breakdown of everyone on the roster and what to watch for when summer league action tips on Saturday night.

#31 // Preston Adams // Guard

The 6-0 guard played one season in 2010-2011 for Webber International University, an independent non-NCAA college. He is a major longshot to play at all and if he sees regular minutes it will be a major surprise.

#23 // O.D. Anosike // Power Forward

The undrafted rookie out of Siena was the NCAA’s leading rebounder each of the past two seasons. Anosike is a 6-8, 240-pound power forward who has drawn comparisons to the last player to lead the NCAA in rebounding before him, Kenneth Faried in 2011. He is known to have a high motor and Anosike is actually a sneaky pick to be the team’s starting power forward if Melvin Hunt elects to play Quincy Miller at the three. He will play some five too due to lack of depth at that position.

#25 // Joel Barkers // Forward

Nuggets fans who follow Ty Lawson on social media may already be aware of Barkers without actually knowing it. The 6-6 Forward is a longtime friend of Lawson’s and has been seen hanging with Ty since his days as a Nuggets rookie. He has lived in Denver and most recently London, where he played professionally last season. He is undersized but tough and could see minutes, although he does not figure to be a rotation staple.

#14 // Kyle Barone // Center

The only true center on the roster, Barone at 6-10 is the lone player taller than Quincy Miller who is 6-9. He is the starting five by default unless the Nuggets elect to go small. As a senior at Idaho he was named the WAC player of the year in 2012-2013. He is a very accomplished college player likely to end up in the D-League or overseas if not the NBA. Barone will have a chance to play regular minutes as he is the most skilled post player on the roster.

#94 // Evan Fournier // Guard

Fournier will start and play a lot. As a rookie he struggled with foul trouble and inconsistent shooting during his first summer league. This year, Fournier will be given free rein to show what he has and expected to carry a large load on both ends of the floor. He needs to demonstrate an ability to play both on and off the ball and a more consistent jumper if he wants to earn minutes next year.

#7 // Ramon Galloway // Guard

The 6-2 combo guard played four years at La Salle, where he developed into an impressive shooter and above average defender. However he averaged more turnovers than assists and at 6-2 and 175-pounds he is undersized at the two position. Galloway will be in the rotation and he strikes me as a guy who will be either surprisingly good or horrible. He is seen as having NBA potential – Galloway was ranked #85 on Chad Ford’s top 100 prospects for 2013.

#11 // Erick Green // Guard

Green is a classic tweener, which is what caused the NCAA’s leading scorer to slide way down draft boards and wind up in Denver at pick #46. Can he play point guard and score against NBA-caliber athletes? These are two questions the Nuggets hope to find answers for next week. Green could start at PG if he proves himself at that position. Either way he is perhaps the most interesting player on this roster and will see regular minutes.

#1 // Jordan Hamilton // Guard-Forward

Hamilton should start and is likely to lead the team in scoring. He put up impressive numbers in last year’s summer league but coaches told me they wanted to see him improve his defensive awareness and on-court composure. What Hamilton needs to do this summer is lead the team and make winning plays. He is one of the most talented scorers in summer league and can really help himself by figuring out when to look for his shot and when to get others involved. He must demonstrate an ability to guard other top scorers as well. I expect Jordan to dominate and be a sneaky pick to win summer league MVP.

#12 // Luke Harangody // Forward-Center

Harangody is one of the most experienced players on the roster. He spent two years in the NBA with the Celtics and Cavs in addition to a full year in the D-League last season. The big-man has shown no ability to make threes in the NBA which is why he’s fallen out of the league. Harangody must make threes at a high clip to have any chance of sticking. Because he is pretty skilled and experienced he stands to get regular rotation minutes.

#5 // CJ Harris // Point Guard

The Nuggets brought Harris in for two pre-draft workouts in Denver. He developed into a very efficient, well-rounded scorer in his three years at Wake Forest. He is similar to Erick Green in that he’s seen as a classic tweener who lacks NBA athleticism. His ability to create shots and score from all over the court make him a candidate to challenge for the starting point guard spot. Harris also might be the best three-point shooter on the team and should see regular minutes.

#20 // Richard Howell // Forward

Howell is another four-year college player known as a low-post guy who can shoot from midrange. His strength is rebounding, where Howell is excellent. He is undersized at 6-8 and 250 pounds but makes up for it with skill, strength and toughness. I like Howell as a potential surprise on this roster but his size might be an issue and could prevent him from getting big minutes. He was ranked #53 in Chad Ford’s Top 100 and was probably good enough to get drafted in the second round, but didn’t.

#30 // Quincy Miller // Forward

Quincy looked lost in last year’s summer league, particularly on defense where he was too thin to match up with bigs and too slow to guard NBA wings. As a result he had no role and didn’t get a chance to play many minutes even in summer league. That should change this summer where Quincy is a favorite to start at either the three or four. Quincy has been working hard and the Nuggets need to see what they have with him, but it’s hard to know what to expect. I am looking for Quincy to work harder than anyone else on the floor and muscle his way into more shots and minutes. His role is unclear at this point so he has to earn one.

#12 // Darius Johnson-Odom // Guard

Odom is an above-average defender who spent most of his rookie season in the D-League. The former Lakers second-round pick is another scoring combo guard on a roster full of them. He is fighting an uphill battle for minutes but as a strong defender who can score in bunches, I like Odom to carve out some kind of role. He had a few nice games in the Orlando summer league with the Boston Celtics.

#22 // Travis Releford // Guard

Releford is a very interesting guy. He was previously viewed as one of the nation’s top high school recruits before fading into a complimentary role at Kansas. Releford, however, turned into one of the very best role players in the country at Kansas where he started alongside Ben McLemore last season. His high-IQ and versatile defense made him an absolutely crucial player for the Jayhawks. He lacks athleticism but his defense seems like it could catch Melvin Hunt’s eye and earn him a spot in the rotation.

#6 // Chace Stanbeck // Guard

He is a spot-up shooter who played at UCLA and UNLV. He went undrafted in 2012 and wound up in the D-League last season. He could offer some three-point shooting but in my view, only stands to get minutes if other guards ahead of him struggle.

#4 // Ben Uzoh // Point Guard

Uzoh is the veteran of the roster, having spent time with three different NBA teams. He also played overseas and in the D-League. Uzoh has talent – he once recorded a triple-double with the Raptors – but expectations need to be tempered because he’s 25 and has shown no ability to stick in the NBA. Uzoh was in training camp with the Nuggets last season but didn’t make the roster. He is a dark horse to show out and surprise some people, but his upside may be limited in comparison to other options the Nuggets have at the guard spots.